muzzy bullet/powder

[Nova]

Great, hope to meet up if I can get grandpa to watch my sons.

[Gissert]

LOL, sounds familiar. I'll be out fishing and will swing by when I am done, probably about 6:30 or 7:00. Maybe the Warden will be with if we can get a sitter for our Blonde Tornado.

Hopefully I can get a deer Saturday AM. Warden has to work, so my 4 year old daughter (Tornado) and I will go for a little 'walk' in the morning and try and catch a deer napping.

Good luck with those new bullets! I thought I was using the same Hornadys that you had trouble with, but I was using the plain lead Thompson Cheap Shots.

[lawdog]

Utterly amazing! That is just crazy that a bullet could make that much difference...

[PerchJerker]

A few years ago I got a Weatherby Mark IV in 7mm-08 for my wife. Traded for it and got the guy to throw in a box of Winchester Supremes with FailSafe bullets - bullets that are expensive and have an excellent reputation. I broke in the barrel and sighted in with cheap softtip bullets and was grouping under 2 inches at 80 yards. Then I broke out the FailSafes to dial them in, figuring they'd be the hunting bullets. They sprayed like crazy - at 80 yards I couldn't group under 12", and there was no telling if they'd be left, right, high, low, etc. Tried those bullets through the gun later after it had been shot some more and had the same results. Every other bullet we've shot through it has been good though. Funny how picky they can be sometimes.

I have a Browing A-Bolt in .30-06 and I haven't found a bullet that won't shoot good through that gun.

[Gissert]

Nova -

How did the weekend with the new bullets go?

[Nova]

saw 19 deer one 1.5 year old buck and one small spike the rest does and fawns. Never got a shot at a decent doe, but if that 1.5 year old buck doesn't wise up he's going down next year. I have seen him every weekend of muzzy hunting. I never made it to the Legion in the blissard, did you? I'll be back up the week between Christmas and new years bow hunting, maybe we can meet up then.

[Nova]

Gissert, were you in a white Ford at the gas station in Underwood about 7:30 firday night. I stopped for gas on the way through and saw a guy and gal with a young blonde girl. Thought it might be the tornado?

[Gissert]

Nova -

Glad to see you saw some deer. I got out a bit in the afternoon on Saturday but saw no deer. They are moving to their wintering grounds, and the patch I hunt has never really been much for wintering deer. I cut a couple of fresh tracks in my woods, and found some more across the road. Might have had some luck if I had been dressed for stand hunting, but all I had on was a pair of bibs and an orange chamois shirt. As long as I kept moving, I did not get cold. Lord knows, I needed the excercise.

Looking forward to next spring to do some bullet testing. I like the results you got with those shockwaves and want to try them.

Nope - that was not me. I drive a maroon Dodge Diesel truck.

I was in the Legion from about 6:45 to 7:30 on Saturday and left. There were a couple of yahoos with bellyfull's of loudmouth soup making conversation difficult. I got frustrated and just went home, hoping you guys did not drive down and have to be subjected to that, LOL.

When it gets closer to xmas, maybe we can figure out a way to hook up then.

[Nova]

Sounds good, kinda glad I didn't make the trip after all.

You ever try to change out the barrel of your Omega? I was thinking of maybe buying a smooth bore for it and trying it for turkey hunting. I have gotten a turkey with the shotgun and bow so this could be my new challenge since the deer thing didn't work. Is it possible to change the barrel? Looking at the web site it looks like they only sell barrels for the Encore.

[Gissert]

Yep, the barrel swapping is done on the Encore.

[Pikemaster101]

Is it true you should Foul the barrel before you head out in the woods?

[lawdog]

I don't think you want to head out with a fouled/dirty barrel. Some people talk about seasoning a muzzleloader barrel but that's different, that's just a matter of breaking it in with some shooting.

I've never heard anyone recommend shooting a dirty barrel and especially not in a muzzleloader. I have heard of one shell through a high power after cleaning it and before hunting, but I never understood the reasoning there...

[PerchJerker]

The theory is if you sight-in with a fouled barrel, you should hunt with a fouled barrel to make sure you're still on target -- to make sure the first shot out of a clean gun isn't a flier. I try to clean my guns every few shots while sighting in, and I pay close attention to the first shot out of a clean barrel. I have not seen any differences in my "hunting accuracy" at the yardages I shoot around here with any of my guns, high-power or muzzleloader.

One thing with muzzleloaders is right before you load up for hunting, to pop a cap or two through an empty gun with the barrel pointed down at some leaves or grass, to make sure the fire is getting through the breach plug to where the powder/pellets will be. Some of the barrel preservatives used for MLs can run down the barrel and plug the breech plug. For that reason some guys store their muzzleloaders barrel down instead of barrel up.